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The Jamestown Local Development Corp. is still considering ways to distribute $1.5 million in grant funds to a handful of local nonprofits.
More than $2.75 million in assistance is being sought between nine organizations -- the Robert H. Jackson Center, National Comedy Center, The Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Chautauqua Opportunities, St Luke's Episcopal Church, Jamestown Center City Development Corp., Collaborative Children's Solutions, the Jamestown Area YMCA and the YWCA of Jamestown.
The Non-Profit Assistance Program has been funded with $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money.
Tim O'Dell, grants manager for the city Department of Development, provided four funding scenarios during a recent JLDC meeting.
The first option is to fund the organizations based on a rubric score and community impact.
"We are defining community-based on what impact it's going to have on Jamestown citizens and the community itself, such as what groups are being served; what services are they providing; and what the overall impact will be," O'Dell said.
He said the second option is to base awards solely off its community benefit without taking a rubric score into consideration. "The purpose of this scenario was to get a majority of the applicants closer to their requested amount in order to create the most efficiencies and get the projects up and running and meeting timelines," he said.
The third option is to base awards solely off a rubric score, with the organization scoring the highest receiving 80% of its requested amount; the second highest scoring receiving 70% of its request; and the lowest receiving 60% of its request.
The last funding option is for all requests under $200,000 to be fully funded, with $200,000 being the maximum amount for all other requests.
Any funding award over $100,000 requires approval of the Jamestown City Council.
Kim Ecklund and Jeff Russell, members of both the JLDC board and the Jamestown City Council, requested that the funding options be sent to council members for review. The council will meet Monday, Aug. 14, for its work session. JLDC members were expected to vote on the funding requests at their next meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
The following funding requests from the ARPA Non-Profit Business Grant program have been made:
¯ The National Comedy Center is seeking $200,000 to help offset revenue losses of $2.3 million in 2020 due to COVID-19.
¯ The Robert H. Jackson Center is seeking $350,000 for the renovation of its Cappa Theater.
¯ The Roger Tory Peterson Institute has requested $82,500 toward establishing a development director position.
Ø Chautauqua Opportunities is asking for $181,393 as part of a $3.78 million project to develop a 12-unit, 18-bed homeless shelter for single women.
Ø Jamestown Center City Development Corp. -- going by the Kids Zone at Northwest Arena -- has requested $500,000 for its $4.8 million TheZone project.
Ø St. Luke Episcopal Church is seeking $200,000 for ongoing work to restore the facility's bell tower.
Ø Collaborative Children's Solutions has requested $96,850 for programs to address childhood trauma, abuse and neglect.
Ø The Jamestown Area YMCA is seeking $1 million toward construction of a new facility.
Ø The YWCA of Jamestown is seeking $145,714 for a new program geared toward youth ages 14 to 19 "to empower healthy decision making and develop leadership skills and community advocacy."